The Lancers lost three from their 2015 Division 4 championship, but with their potent 1-2 combo up front and a strong history of developing depth, they may still be able to repeat in 2016.
Cross country is right around the corner, and we're celebrating by counting down to the start of the competitive fall season! Each day (except today!) we'll release one boys team and one girls team, counting down from 30 to 1 as we approach the beginning of real XC racing.
It's not every season that you see a Division 4 team ranked this high in the state overall, but then again it's also not every season that you see a defending state champion return such a strong group. Bishop Amat has 4 of their top 6 back from that title-winning 2015 squad, and the Lancers already had more than enough depth to replace the departed seniors. This has been one of the strongest programs in the state over the last 3 years in terms of season-to-season development, and they have an extra benefit this year because Ally Palomino appears to be back to full speed. After running 17:13 at the Southern Section finals in 2014, she struggled last fall and clocked 19:10, but on the track this spring she posted PR's of 10:46 and 5:00. Palomino will join with Olivia Paez to form a potent duo up front, and if Bishop Amat pulls off another strong summer to solidify depth, a title defense is entirely within the Lancers' range.
Ranking Data:
- Returning Team Ranking: 7th (5K)
- Combined Spring Track Ranking: 31st (31st 3200, 31st 1600)
- Improvement Rating: 4th
The #CountdownToXC is a data-driven set of team rankings determined using the following information:
- Returning Team 5K & 3 Mile Rankings from 2015 XC: carries the most weight
- Returning Team 1600 and 3200 Rankings from 2015 Outdoor: less weight, but important
- Improvement Rating: a long-term statistical evaluation of how each program improves from season to season. This custom metric compares a team's final team average from each season to their returning team average from the previous season, while also accounting for how highly-ranked the team was. As we continue to improve the depth and quality of our data in California, this measure should get stronger and stronger. Improvement ratings will be the subject of a separate article in August.
- Returning team from the 2015 CIF state meet
- A little bit of "gut feeling"